Abbey Road Medley

The Abbey Road melody is found on the B-side of the Beatles album Abbey Road

The Beatles revealed that they created the medley to "use up" several previously incomplete songs. All the songs are in different keys and styles and all written by different composers to cover almost the entire B-side of Abbey Road.

Contents

Medley Track Listing

Most sources say the medley starts with "You Never Give Me Your Money" and ends with "The End," for a total of eight tracks.*Not normally counted in the medley, but segues neatly into You Never Give Me Your Money

**Recorded as one piece

***Recorded as one piece

Recording

January 22, 1969, "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" was rehearsed during the Let it Be sessions. Billy Preston was on hand to help out with chord structure at the end of a busy day of recording. This version sounds pretty much the same as the LP version, except for it being a little slower and with a wah-wah guitar and no overdubs (this version is on Anthology 3).

May 6, 1969, Olympic Sound Studios, 3:00 pm-4:00 am- 36 takes of the basic track of "You Never Give Me Your Money" were recorded, consisting of Paul on piano and guide vocal, Ringo on drums, John on distorted electric guitar and George on chiming electric guitar put through a Leslie amp. A rough stereo mix was also created.

July 1, 1969, Abbey Road Studios, 3:00-7:30 pm- John was involved in a car accident, so Paul was the only Fab present today for recording the lead vocal on "You Never Give Me Your Money."

July 2, 1969, Abbey Road Studios, 3:00-9:30 pm- Paul recorded 3 takes of "Her Majesty" (2 of them complete) before George and Ringo showed up. Then, 15 takes of "Golden Slumbers" and "Carry That Weight" were recorded, with Paul on piano and guide vocal, Ringo on drums, and, unusually, George on bass.
The two songs were recorded as one.

July 3, 1969, Abbey Road Studios, 3:00-8:30 pm- Takes 13 and 15 of "Slumbers" and "Weight" were edited together, and then, Paul overdubbed rhythm guitar and two lead vocals, then all three sang the "Carry That Weight" chorus. A tape reduction was also made.

July 4, 1969, Abbey Road Studios, 2:45-5:30 pm- Overdubbing for "Slumbers" and "Weight." (the logs do not say what they are.)

July 15, 1969, Abbey Road Studios, 2:30-11:00 pm- Overdubbing of vocal and chimes for the end of "You Never Give Me Your Money." Six stereo mixes.

July 23, 1969, Abbey Road Studios- 7 takes of "The End" (currently known as "Ending") were recorded. Ringo's drum solo changed every take, the last one being 16 seconds long. Take 7 was considered the best, and the solo was spread over two tracks (a technological recording breakthrough).
In the final version, any instruments overdubbed alongside Ringo's solo (that was two lead guitars and a tambourine) were deleted so that the solo would remain solo.
At this point, the song was only 1:20 long. The final version will include lenghtly guitar solos, more drums, an orchestra, vocals and piano, and the song would grow to more than 2 minutes (this song with longer guitar solos is on Anthology 3).

July 24, 1969, Abbey Road Studios, 3:30-10:30 pm- "Sun King" and "Mean Mr. Mustard" were recorded together and known as "Here Comes the Sun King." 35 takes were recorded of the basic track: Drums, lead, rhythm and bass guitars plus John's guide vocal.

July 25, 1969, Abbey Road Studios- Overdubbing of vocals, piano and organ onto take 35 of "Sun King" and "Mean Mr. Mustard."
Also today, the Fabs recorded 39 takes of "Polythene Pam" and "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window." "Polythene Pam" started with John sharply jabbing on a 12-string acoustic guitar and "Bathroom WIndow" ended with Paul's line, "...on the phone to me. Oh yeah." The basic track consisted of bass guitar (Paul), drums (Ringo), electric guitar (George) and acoustic guitar (John). The also recorded off-microphone guide vocals by Paul and John.
Then, in a late night session, the lead vocal, bass guitar and drums were overdubbed onto Take 39.

July 28, 1969, Abbey Road Studios, 2:30-8:30 pm- Overdubbing of another lead vocal, more guitars, random percussion, electric piano and ordinary piano onto "Polythene Pam" and "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window." A reduction mix was also made.

July 29, 1969, Abbey Road Studios- "Sun King" and "Mean Mr. Mustard" were now known as their individual song titles with overdubs of vocal, piano, organ and percussion.

July 30, 1969, Abbey Road Studios- Reduction mix and vocal overudbs on "You Never Give Me Your Money." Overdubbing of vocals, percussion and guitar for "Pam" and "Bathroom Window," and vocals for "Slumbers" and "Weight."
Stereo mixing for the medley, now in this order ("Because" had not yet been recorded):

"You Never Give Me Your Money"

"Sun King"

"Mean Mr. Mustard"

"Her Majesty"

"Polythene Pam"

"She Came in Through the Bathroom Window"

"Golden Slumbers"

"Carry That Weight"

"The End"

Medley editing and crossfading was done. The most problemetic was the crossfade between "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "Sun King."
They decided to merge the songs on an organ note (a better alternative came on August 5).

July 31, 1969, Abbey Road Studios- Overdubbing of the bass and piano tracks for "You Never Give Me Your Money," the version before the previous day's reduction mix. "Golden Slumbers" and "Carry That Weight" had recieved overdubs of drums, timpani and vocals.

August 1, 1969, Abbey Road Studios, 2:30-10:30 pm- 23 takes of the basic rhythm track for "Because" were recorded, with George Martin playing harpsichord, John playing the electric guitar riff and Paul on bass. Ringo tapped out a beat on the hi-hat, but this was only for the musicians' headphones. It was not recorded on tape.

August 4, 1969, Abbey Road Studios, 2:30-9:00 pm- Overdubbing of the the vocal tracks for "Because." (The harmonies only can be heard on Anthology 3 and Love.)

August 5, 1969, Abbey Road Studios- Paul came up with the perfect solution for the crossfade in "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "Sun King": Loose strands of tapes and other sound effects from tape loops of birds, crickets, and other such things.
Also, George overdubbed Moog Synthesizer onto "Because" and vocals were overdubbed onto "Ending" (later known as "The End").

August 14, 1969, Abbey Road Studios- Stereo mixing of "Polythene Pam" and "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window." They were then joined with "Sun King" and "Mean Mr. Mustard."
Also today, stereo mixing of the crossfade between "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "Sun King."

August 15, 1969, Abbey Road Studios, 2:30-5:30 pm- Orchestral overdubs for "Golden Slumbers," "Carry That Weight" and "The End." (still known as "Ending.")